Issue 6, June 2021

Contents

1. Methods Support Protocol Template

2. Editorial Manager Update

3. Calling all Plain language summary writers

4. New policy for managing potentially problematic studies

5. A new home for editorial policies on the Cochrane Library

6. News from Cochrane Review Groups

1. Methods Support Protocol Template

The Methods Support Unit have developed a template protocol which is available for new intervention reviews.

The template protocol file includes detailed guidance for authors, and a recommended reference list which has been approved by copy edit support. The guidance in the template is based on the latest version of the Cochrane Handbook and therefore includes details on using Risk of Bias 2.

To save this template for use in your group:

•    Download the template protocol

•    Create a new template review following the instructions in the Archie Knowledge Base

•    Select the downloaded template file when creating the new review

•    You can edit the template as needed if you wish to add group-specific information

If you wish to use the shared template, you will need to create your template review before your group starts using Editorial Manager, when the process for creating new review files will change. 

Don't forget to use the naming convention for review templates explained on the Editorial Manager preparatory tasks page. This will ensure that all new reviews registered via Editorial Manager, open in RevMan using the correct template.

If your group is already using Editorial Manager, but you would like to use the Methods Support Unit template, please contact Support and we can add this to Archie for you.

2. Editorial Manager Update

Thank you to everyone who has been in touch with Support to let us know your preferred start date for starting to use Editorial Manager. We now have 44 groups either already using the system or with induction planned. 

Please get in touch if you have not yet chosen a date to start using EM and would like to discuss next steps with Support. You will be allocated a Support Team Member who will provide one-to-one support as you start to use the system. 

Training and Support: Recordings of all EM demo sessions are now available to view. 

•    Session 1: System introduction, editorial process overview

•    Session 2: Group roles, adding content from Archie

•    Session 3: Handling new submissions and editorial checks 

•    Session 4: Peer review

All demos will re-run in July. Book on to future sessions.

When the current series of demos finishes, we will be holding regular weekly drop-in Q&A sessions. Sign up here.

Additional weekly drop-ins will be added at a time convenient for MEs in Australia and New Zealand. Details to follow soon. 

Knowledge Base updates: Read the latest additions to the Knowledge Base on some great tips for getting the most out of EM:

•    Ask another editor to review collated peer review comments

Don't forget to let the Support Team know when you have completed the practice tasks. We will mark your completion of this training on your Cochrane Account profile.

3. Calling all Plain language summary writers

Please help us user test a new Plain language summary template.

The Plain language summary project has produced a template for writing Cochrane Plain language summaries. We would like as many people as possible to test it and tell us what they think about it. We will amend it based on your feedback. So, if you have a Plain language summary to write for a review between now and the beginning of September, please help us by using the template to write your summary. Or please pass this on to anyone you know who writes Plain language summaries.

Please visit this page for:

1.    the template; 

2.    a guidance document with full guidance on what to write in your Plain language summary and how to write it;

3.    a short questionnaire.

What do you need to do?

1.    Download the template and the guidance document

2.    Write your Plain language summary in the template, following the instructions. 

Note: this is still a test version so links to the guidance in the template are not currently active. However, you can navigate to specific sections of the guidance using the table of contents in the guidance.

3.    Download and complete the questionnaire

4.    Send to Denise Mitchell:

       a.    the completed questionnaire and 

       b.    your finished/draft Plain language summary

5. Please send comments by the end of August 2021.

4. New policy for managing potentially problematic studies

The new Cochrane policy for managing potentially problematic studies is now available on the Cochrane Library. There is also an accompanying implementation guidance document on the EPPR to help editorial teams with implementing this new policy. You can also read more about the wider issue of problematic studies in relation to systematic reviews in an Editorial published in the Cochrane Library.

5. A new home for editorial policies on the Cochrane Library

There is a new page on the Cochrane Library listing all the key editorial and publishing policies for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The aim of is to provide accessible information for current and prospective authors, and Cochrane Library users. The current home of policies, the Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource remains in place, but this will evolve into a guidance resource for editorial teams. There are more details in this presentation in a recent Join the Conversation webinar.

6. News from Cochrane Review Groups

a. Welcome Jennifer!

We would like to welcome Jennifer Mariano, the new AME for Cochrane Urology. 

b. Changes at Cochrane Neonatal

We say goodbye to longstanding ME Colleen Ovelman this month, and welcome back Jane Cracknell, who will take over from Colleen as ME for the group. Jane has been AME for the group for a while now. 

c. Goodbye, Ann!

The ARI Group is sad to bid a fond farewell to Ann Jones at the end of this month. Ann has been a Managing Editor with us for the past 5 years, and we will miss her professionalism, warm friendship and fantastic support. We were extremely lucky to be able to welcome Ann to our team, as she came with a wealth of knowledge and experience from working with the Kidney & Transplant as Managing Editor from 2011 to 2015. We will miss Ann and wish her all the best with everything in her new chapter of life.

Ann also worked as ME with Consumers & Communication across three different times from August 2015 to October 2019. Ann worked as sole ME, then trained Bronwen Merner as ME, and finally Louisa Walsh as AME. Ann has always been extremely accommodating and super flexible in going back to work with Consumers and Communication at short notice when asked for her help. She was always a joy to work with and a font of knowledge. A quote from Bronwen: “Ann is my Cochrane idol and knows her way around Archie like a boss. Forever patient and poised, she manages authors and the editorial team with aplomb, even during particularly difficult negotiations. We will miss her cheerful and unfailingly professional manner, knowledge and expertise at Consumers and Communication.”

Contact us

If you have any questions about any of the above items, or about any aspect of your ME role, regardless of your location, please contact us at mesupport@cochrane.org

The Cochrane Managing Editor Support Team:

Anupa Shah | Liz Dooley | Ruth Turley